Apparatus for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes.



G. E. HALLQUIST.

APPARATUS FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13. 19H.

1,160,165. Patented N0v. 16, 1915.

COLUMBIA PLAIfIOflRAPH COqWASHINGTON, D. c.

WEIRD TATE PATENT @FFTQE.

GUSTAF E. HALLQUIST, or Bnoc ToN, MASSACHUSETTS, nssrenon '10 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, or rarnnsolv, NEW masnv, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Application filed. November 13, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gns'rar E. HALL- onrs'r, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brockton, county of Plymouth, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Apparatus fo Use in the Manufacture of Boots nd Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. H

This invention relates'to machines and apparatus for use in the manufacture of bQOts and shoes.

In certain machines and apparatus in which several shoes are supported simultaneously, it is frequently desirable that the.

workman shall know the relative order in which the shoes have been placed in, or should be removed from, the apparatus. This is particularly true in certain forms of apparatus in which shoes are subjected to treatment by some agent that may damage them if'the treatment is too long continued.

It is the chief object of this invention to provide means which shall give this information to: the workman.

To this end an important feature of my invention comprises an apparatus in which a pair of shoesjare supported for treatment, in combination with an indicator. adapted to rest upon either shoe, constructed and arranged to be moved from one shoe into contact with the other by or during the withdrawal from the apparatus of the shoe upon which the indicator rests. V

For purposes of explanation, the invention will be described as applied to an apparatus for softening the stock at the toes of shoes by the use of hot vapor. The figure of the accompanying drawings shows an apparatus of this character with one embodiment of the present invention applied thereto.

The particular apparatus shown, comprises a tank 2 supported by a pedestal 1 and adapted to hold a body of water. A steam inlet pipe 6 lies along the bottom of the tank and is connected through a valve 8 with a steam supply. This pipe is submerged in the water within the tank and is provided with several perforations through which steam may escape into the water for Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

Serial No. 660,024.

the purpose of heating it. The surplus water within the tank is carried away by a drip pipe 10, having its intake end positioned above the level of the steam pipe 6..

In one of the walls of the tank 2, two apertures 12 are formed of suitable size and shape to accommodate the toe portion of a shoe. Shoes may be supported with their toes in the apertures 12 by means of a toe rest 14: of heat insulating material having notches formed therein to register with the opening-s 12, and two pairs of supports 16 projecting away from the slabv 14 in position to sustain the heel parts of the shoes while their toe portions rest in said notches and project into the tank. The usual practice in using this apparatus is for the workman to. last the sides and heel of a shoe and then to place it in the apparatus with its toe portion projecting into the tank. He then lasts the sides and heel of another shoe, which also is placed in the apparatus. By the time he has repeated this lasting operation on a third shoe, the toe of the first shoe should be sufficiently softened to last easily; and the workman, therefore, removes this shoe from the rest and puts the third shoe in its place. He then lasts the toe of the first shoe while it is still hot and moist.

It will be understood that the apparatus above described is not ofmy invention but is herein described for the purpose of disclosing one form of apparatus to which my invention may be applied.

The indicating means embodying my invention; comprises a device 18 which may consist merely of a wire bent several times around a pivot pin 20 that is secured to the toe rest 14 at a point between the positions normally occupied by the two shoes in the apparatus. The indicator 18 is mounted to swing freely on the pivot 20 so that it may rest upon either shoe, and it is arranged to be tipped from one shoe to another by the withdrawal from the apparatus of the shoe upon which it rests. This operation will be clear when it it understood that, in removing a shoe from the apparatus, the shoe is grasped at the heel and lifted upwardly and away from the rest, the toe of the shoe at the same time being raised sufiiciently to withdraw it from the aperture 12 without scraping it over the edge of the rest 14. The indicator, therefore, always rests upon the shoe that has been in the apparatus longest and, consequently, the one which should first be removed. In the drawings the indicator is shOWn resting upon the left hand shoe. The workman, therefore, knows that this shoe should be removed next. The act of withdrawing this shoe from the shoe rest tips the indicator over into contact with the right hand shoe, as shown by the dotted lines. The workman may then place another shoe in the left hand aperture 12 without disturbing the position of the indicator. When he is ready to last the toe of another shoe he will know by the fact that the indicator rests on the right hand shoe that this shoe should next be removed.

While this invention is applicable to other forms of apparatus than that shown, it is of especial advantage in an apparatus of this character inasmuch as there is danger of injuring the shoe if it is exposed too long to the action of the steam or vapor within the tank. Consequently, if the workman removes the wrong shoe from the apparatus, there is considerable likelihood that the other shoe will be damaged. The present invention obviates any confusion that might lead to this result, since the indicator shows the workman at all times the relative order in which the shoes were placed in the apparatus.

rality of shoes, means for directing hot vapor on to the shoes supported by said means, and means arranged to be operated by the removal of a shoe from the supporting means for indicating at any instant the shoe that has been subjected for the greatest length of time to the action of the vapor.

3. In an apparatus for treating shoes, the combination of means for supporting a plurality of shoes, means for directing hot vapor on to the shoes supported by said means, and indicating means arranged to be operated by contact with a shoe, during its removal from the apparatus, to indicate which shoe has been subjected for the great est length of time to the action of the vapor. 4. The combination with an apparatus in which a pair of shoes are supported for treatment, of an indicator pivoted between the shoes and adapted to rest upon either shoe, said indicator being supported to be moved from one shoe into contact with the other by the withdrawal from the apparatus of the shoe upon which the indicator rests.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with shoe supporting means comprlsing a toe rest shaped to support the toe portions of two shoes, of an indicator pivoted on said rest in position to swing into contact with either shoe, said indicator being so mounted with relation to the positions occupied by the shoes that the movement of a shoe out of contact with the rest, as it is withdrawn from the apparatus, will tip the indicator resting on said shoe and cause it to swing into contact with the other shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GUSTAF E. HALLQUIST.

Witnesses:

HENRY F. PARKER, JOHN H. MCCRE'ADI,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 7

Washington, D. C. 

